Wednesday, 10 April 2013

On this day in history: #3 The bride is Pretty in Pink

Psychedelic Furs House Of Blues Anaheim10 April 2001 Los AngelesI'm enjoying looking back in history, brings back some quite fantastic memories. Going back 12 years ago me and Mrs P were on our honeymoon, choosing our favourite holiday destination, America and more specifically Anaheim in LA.Pre kids the US was our regular haunt for holidays, a lucky position to be in but 2 incomes, not tied to school holidays want that we could visit the States regularly. Our enthusiasm piqued by a first trip to Vegas on a last minute trip (booked in a Travel Agent that day to go) for £199 with car thrown in. That was a bargain, and in that week we drove to LA.But in 2001 wanting to tie in other things I loved along with the honeymoon I checked out the local gig listings and found our favourite restaurant also put on live gigs, our favourite restaurant being the House of Blues. The House of Blues is a small chain which we always sought out. Founded back in 1992, the first House of Blues was originally financed by Dan Aykroyd,Aerosmith, Paul Shaffer, River Phoenix, James Belushi and Harvard University among others, and its cool. While we were there we got to see the band Psychedelic Furs. Bit disappointing that the week before Brummie favourites Duran Duran had played, as did my favourite Spice Girl Sporty but I wasn't going to be able to change the wedding dates.

House of Blues Anaheim

I can't mention the House of Blues without mentioning the Calamari starter, this is by a million miles my favourite meal, when sharing this with Mrs P we get to play the game of sorting the baby calamari out into those smaller ones with all the legs attached (for me) and those you can't tell are the little baby squids (Mrs P's).So to the gig itself, this was a year of a big reunion for the Furs, shamefully me and Mrs P didn't know anything more than the obvious Pretty in Pink which came through in the encore, the rest of the gig was very much a good old fashioned indie music romp, the crowd well up for the gig, enjoying singing along to various songs. This was however more about the experience, the lovely LA weather, the cracking venue, decor all based around Southern Blues and then honeymoon gigging overseas.

Searching the net, there are a couple of reviews such as the following:The Build up: from here

March 7, 2001 – Reforming after 10 years, the Psychedelic Furs are gearing up for a spring tour beginning March 23rd through May 13th. Featuring founding members Richard Butler, Tim Butler and John Ashton, the Furs will perform all their favorites, and some new songs that they intend to record immediately after the tour.

During the Furs first tenure (1978-1991) the group garnered a vast following for their music's unpredictable mix of punk rock, poetic lyricism and rhythmic hooks. Fronted by vocalist Richard Butler, the Furs became one of the more riveting musical forces to come out of the post-punk, new-wave era. The band charted big hits with "Love My Way," "Heaven," "The Ghost In You," and of course "Pretty In Pink," which accelerated the Furs ascendancy to the pop mainstream when the group recorded a new version for the John Hughes' 1986 film of the same name.

After twelve years of recording and touring and with seven studio albums under their belt, Richard, Tim and John became tired of being the Psychedelic Furs and in 1991 decide to go their own ways. "It was very amicable," say Richard Butler, "There just weren't any surprises left, so we moved on."

While Richard Butler was working on material for a solo project, he got together with Tim to do some writing which gave rise to the Psychedelic Furs second coming. "When Tim saw all the songs I had, he asked about doing another Furs' record and then our manager called about doing some shows -- so it seemed like the time was right," explains Butler. "Because we're not exactly sure what to expect from ourselves or the audience, the whole idea of being in the Psychedelic Furs is exciting again."

Happy endings are rare, while loneliness and misery are all too plentiful, a fact of life that helps explain the success of the Psychedelic Furs' reunion tour.

Anyone who so much as hummed a note in the early '80s is back plying the nostalgia circuit, yet this British new wave band's sold-out show Tuesday at Anaheim's House of Blues only intermittently felt dated, mixing new material with old.

That's because Furs singer-songwriter Richard Butler spent most of his time then--and now--delving into the timeless questions of what happens when love doesn't work out, when the heart seems fated to be a lonely hunter.

Such Furs' pop-radio staples as "Love My Way" and "Pretty in Pink" still sound fairly good, perhaps because they weren't dripping with the now-anachronistic synthesizer sounds of that time.

Further, Butler--joined in the quintet by original members Tim Butler on bass and John Ashton on guitar--has lost none of his magnetism as a Bowie-esque singer and front man.

One of the best flyers for a gig listing I have seen (Spot Duran and Mel C)